let's just call it bad luck
by Wandering princess
Summary: Celeste has a normal life she wouldn't wish to change, a normal boring life, so when on a bus ride she mentions accidentally to an old lady how she wishes she could live an adventure, somehow, that makes her end up in Storybrooke Maine, with her suitcase, a blackberry filled with OUAT info and enough cash for just a week, how will she fare up against our favorite characters?.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hi this is my first ouat fic, thanks to ouat fan for pointing out I needed to revise this chapter, because she was right, and I happen to love constructive critics, this chapter had so much potential already **_

Part 1: the girl who wasn't a candidate for misfortune

_Ughhh_ I thought as I read the problem again

_For boys, the average number of absences in the first grade is 15 with a standard deviation of 7; for girls, the average number of absences is 10 with a standard deviation of 6._

In a nationwide survey, suppose 100 boys and 50 girls are sampled. What is the probability that the male sample will have at most three more days of absences than the female sample?

(A) 0.025  
(B) 0.035  
(C) 0.045  
(D) 0.055  
(E) None of the above  
  
Looking at the clock above the teacher my heart began beating in a nervous pattern, lord, I hated statistics, accounting and marketing where starting to seem like joy ride subjects compared to this, still, studying business had been my decision right?.  
Giving up my dream of becoming a writer in favor of a career that would give me more working range had been my choice, so suck it up, a tiny voice inside my head taunted laughing.

And I was, I really was doing my best; here in Mayfield, but apparently my best was still a B plus short of it's true potential.

Finally the bell rang, signaling the end of life as we knew it until spring break was over, at last, I thought once the final bell rang and all the people around me erupted in loud cheers making me wince slightly, _gosh if that sound wasn't annoying_, then nothing was, smiling I made my way up from my seat and headed out, feeling the tension begin to ease from my shoulders if only for a few minutes, finally, I was getting a break, a much needed one.

But the thing was, that this year in particular, I wished college would have given me more things to keep busy with over the days.

Absentmindedly my fingers reached for the heart shaped costume jewelry ruby pendant I'd taken to wearing lately, playing with it back and forth, _Jason_, even his name after all these months brought a blinding pain, making me burn inside, fast I dropped my hand and averted my gaze; feeling the pain retreat to the place I'd given it in the darkness of my heart; Jason was someone I shouldn't think about if I was ever going to have my sanity back.  
But vacations where especially hurtful these days.

"Hey Celeste thanks for lending me the Davinci code, I'm still hung up on it, care if I return it after the break?" Suzy, a frie..Girl I studied with asked, I smiled and told her to go ahead, after all I had the eBook in my trusty blackberry.

_Well hello there_, how impolite of me, I haven't even told you who I am yet, or what you are doing here for the matter, my name is Celeste Morgan and you are here because the weirdest thing happened to me this spring break.

I live in a city called Santa Andalucía, a small metropolis just outside of Barcelona in ( you guessed it) Spain.

It's a bustling city akin to somewhere like New York; where anyone who's anyone is either wired to an Iphone or a BlackBerry, everyone is always busy, there is always something that needs to be done here and there, we have a bunch of colleges for tons of careers and all our malls have more than seven wi-fi connecting options.

The only thing wrong is that I don't exactly fit in with people my age, in Santa Andalucia, I'm considered something of an oddity or a fluke in the universe's natural order, in other words the people who know me think I'm strange

guess that when one is eighteen (practically an adult) you can't just waste your time reading and writing, daydreaming with far away looks in your eyes when you could be dancing and partying like normal people; at least that's what my few friends say when I ask why we don't hang out as often as before.

in life one has to be mature, sensible and responsible, working hard and leaving your dreams for the time your hard work paid off.

I believed that, I'd been living with that belief since getting into college, but still, I was never into things that people my age did for fun; getting drunk in clubs and hooking up with people I just met wasn't my thing

in my free time I liked to do other things, I liked to read at least one whole book a day, museums with exhibits on interesting subjects, photography, long walks to daydream in my head, to stay up reading until my eyes dropped with a flashlight under my bed, and writing, that I loved

Grandma used to think I had the eyes of a fairy changeling, said I was born seeing things differently, that my eyes saw beauty in places people never thought to look, _old soul_ she liked to call me

Maybe she was right, _maybe I'd always been this way, _quirky and odd, with a perchance for writing stories on the margins of my economy notebooks and spending my free hours in Mayfield's library.

The point is; I'm not the kind of girl that's a candidate for misfortune; or even bad luck, actually, when you look at my life people would say that even when family wise, I'm not exactly lucky, I'm not stuck in a ditch either.

Let me explain, I'm the eldest of four, both of my parents are still alive, my grandparents too, on both sides, I've lived with my mother all my life and I have a good pseudo-relationship with her, all my siblings(little brothers) adore me, even my dad, who lives on the other side of town with Kara (his wife) and my other two little sisters, likes to say he loves me, our relationship might be strained but I still like to spend the holidays with them when I can, needless to say I have absolutely no daddy issues or deep family emotional trauma, my family is quite normal and supportive

I get good presents on Christmas, live in a house that even while it's small and needs a couple of things done, is not really a hut either, my life is pretty simple, and when one ignores the bad things like the fact I still pretty much depend on my parents for money, my lack of car, personal computer, privacy, friends and time for myself, I realize that compared to lots of people, I AM lucky.

This is why I never considered myself the type of person that needed to be taught a magical lesson or be sent on a mind-enlightening trip across the universe, those things where for martyrs and heroes, girls who deserved good luck and well wishes… not me, I was good where I was, I had my family, my health, my third semester in business school, a struggling dream to become a writer and my trusty blackberry to make my life complete.

_Too bad that somehow wasn't enough for the universe._

Part 2: How Celeste ended up stranded in who knows where

"Mom I think I'm spending spring break with Dad, if that's okay with you" I told her the next morning, looking around us to the four boys vying for her attention, while Mark (her husband and my step dad who had raised me like his own since Dad abandoned a knocked up mom) typed away in his computer.

"Sure you don't want to stay? Celeste I know the house seems a bit chaotic" she dodged the flying ball of pudding Mark Jr had sent from his baby seat "but we do need you in the house, in fact I'm pretty sure I need all the help I can get too, work is awful" I loved mom I really did, she was someone who always understood me and helped me, even in her own overprotective way, she wanted me to be happy, which made discussions like these all the more difficult

"mom I just finished my first semester, studying in my room the past months while Lewis and his friends played guitar hero next on one side of my wall and Taylor blew things up with science chemicals on the other wasn't exactly good for my stress levels" Lewis and Taylor where the ones closer to my age; almost nearing puberty they usually alternated their moods between loving me and annoying me when it suited them.

"But you made it and I'm proud of you honey" mom smiled patting me in the head, "we all are"

"Yes I made it, but I still really need some down time, and we both know I'm not going to get any here" I pointed out, "please, I need this"

"well okay, if you want to" Mom sighed warily, she was struggling I could see, between being her usual overprotective self; and putting my needs before her own, lucky, her selfless side won "pack your things then, but you'll have to ride the bus, I'm a little held up here and can't drive you" she gave me a kiss in the temple and I went upstairs to grab my always-ready-to-escape-to-dad suitcase.

There in my bed, packed with enough things to last me the whole break, was my roller blade pink hippie painted suitcase, I added a few more things and half an hour later happy with myself, I bounded downstairs and waved goodbye "bye guys, if you need me here or if there's an emergency, you know I have my blackberry right?, call me beep me if you want to reach me, or in this case, tweet me, mail me, MySpace me, Facebook mail me"

"Bye Celeste, love you hun" Mom called from the kitchen, coming over and giving me a hug, these trips to dad where becoming so constant that she didn't seem to be as worried as she'd been before I turned nineteen

"Take care and don't talk to strangers presiosa" Mark shouted from his studio, I smiled and shouted back "will do"

As I mentioned earlier my dad lived in the other side of town, in a fancy private suburb that had a security guy at the entrance, so the bus that I had to take from my house to his, had to take his time getting through Santa Andalucía to get to his place, which meant, I was doomed to spend half an hour bored to death in it.

_Not if I can help it_, I thought taking out my phone.

the good thing of having a step dad that works in Microsoft is that when you get tech, you get it high, and my last birthday gift had been a memory card with enough space to download the pentagon and still have memory, lucky I didn't want to download the pentagon or any other government agency when I got it.

just season one of once upon a time, which I might or might not be obsessed with, scrolling through my memory device I realized how much junk I had downloaded lately, sure I had a library's worth of books in pdf format, enough music to last me an eternity and most of it I didn't even like, I had spam, and chain mail, I sighed and began deleting stuff, relegating the movies I had to a folder, the books to their own folder, the TV shows too (ouat,house, revenge, the vampire diaries) heaving a long sigh when I realized how much eps I'd missed since I'd started college, well it doesn't matter, I tried to convince myself, I'll catch up in no time when I get settled.

_"you are so strange Celeste_" a image of Jason intruded my inner pity party_ "I don't understand why you obsess over shows you can watch online later" he'd said good-naturedly once when I had begged him to watch Once with me._

"because it's fun Jace, come on, just this episode" I pleaded plopping myself in his couch and tuning in the once upon a time winter marathon

"not in this lifetime love" he'd replied, only to sit next to me fifteen minutes later with his laptop pretending he wasn't watching  
  
Again I sighed dejectedly, was that what my life had been reduced to?, slaving off in College, with reading books and watching TV as my only joys?. My friends where probably out enjoying themselves , I tried not to think about_ Jace_ who was usually busy around these times of the year, (no Celeste, stop thinking about him, stop it,) my friends, my friends, my friends, those who hadn't dropped out of college to pursue their dreams, where probably either partying or traveling and me?, I was just here, in a place where my only hope of changing my routine was going to my dad's house "excuse me child is something wrong?" an old lady who I hadn't noticed sitting next to me asked.

Startled I stared at her frozen, "what. I mean, no, nothing is wrong nana" I said using a Spanish endearment for elderly ladies

"ohh it's just that you looked so sad right there, reminds me of a wilting flower, my Dannie, always used to have that face that she did" her eyes looked so kind, her cotton ball hair was braided in a simple way and her flowery patterned clothes looked as though taken from a hallmark card, reminded me of what a Mrs. Santa should look like.

Suddenly I felt the strange urge to be honest with her, the old lady just looked so concerned, and for a stranger, that was almost touching.

"it's just"I tried to explain "my life, I just realized I've become something, so, so predictable, and don't get me wrong nana I love my life, I'm happy with it, but it's just that, I feel I'm stuck, normally school keeps me busy, but, I don't have many friends, and I'm so bored, not doing anything that really fills me, where's the adventure?, shouldn't my life be more exiting?, shouldn't I be spending my spring break doing something, I don't know, something else, something daring" but then I stopped myself "but then again that's crazy, I'm a goody two shoes, I wouldn't have the guts"

"Ohh I understand" the old nana said smiling, her pruny skin stretching making her face seem like a apricot seed "you want to have an adventure"

I laughed "Adventure, that's about everything that's missing in my life, that and true love"

The old lady laughed with me "well me says when you find one, the other usually comes around, maybe they are one and the same" again I tried not to think about Jason unsuccessfully, feeling the pain slowly squeezing my heart, wondering if he was ever thinking about me, if he was even in the state; trying to keep my hands from flying over the phone keys to check if he'd updated his Facebook.

Only shaking myself out of that stupor when the old nana squeezed my hand "such a young girl, to be afflicted with this sadness, that's for us adults weary of life, not the likes of you dear, who need to see the world and be the hero of your own story " then she looked at my cell and scrunched her brow "what is that playing there in your hand?"

"Ohh I'm watching a TV show, it's called once upon a time, nothing serious" I shrugged my shoulders

My bus partner let out a much un-eldery snort "I know the show, my granddaughter watches it all the time, good lord, Dannie, my girl, can't seem to get her attention when she's watching it" she muttered offhandedly (or so I thought) then she was back to discussing me "you look so young for an old soul you know, you speak as if you were weary"

"It's nothing really, just tired I guess; doing the same thing every single day can do that to you but I guess that's not going to change anytime soon so why bother crying over spilled milk" I perked up "one has to see the sunny side"

"you are right, the glass needs to be half full, one should look at it in that way, and just between us, "she whispered drawing me close " I have feeling that soon, you my dear, will be having that great adventure you want after all, your life needs magic doesn't it?"

I nodded trying to keep the resignation out of my voice "doesn't everybody wish for a bit of magic in their lives?" I laughed

"Well this is my stop, mind helping me with my groceries child?" Old nana asked motioning to a set of heavy bags in her feet, funny that too, had escaped my notice.

"sure here you go" I smiled helping her out, noticing that her face brightened

The bus had stopped in a very dark street, I couldn't see houses or buildings anywhere left and right, only the empty road stretching into the darkness "sure this is your stop nana?" I wondered after feeling my muscles burn from the weight of her bags.

But when I turned around, the old lady was gone; the bus too, had disappeared; only my pink suitcase remained. Perfectly placed in the middle of the road.

A note taped to its front

_Thank you for helping me when you thought I was just a frail old woman, you are a very kind girl Celeste_

And you were right, everybody needs a little magic, so this is my thank you gift for you.

Good luck in your adventure.  
  
_Angelica Haven  
__**  
Ps: I would suggest since you might currently be stranded on a foreign street, to start walking.  
**_  
"oh hell" "oh hell" "ohh hell" I muttered panicked, realizing what had just happened "ohh hell" and after about another hundred "ohh hells" more, I started to cry, begging whoever had left me the note to come out of hiding, the road was dark, and for the first time I regretted taking the night bus to dad's house that day.

When crying didn't work and I'd exhausted all my panic, I tried the sensible approach "now come on Celeste, this, this is wrong" I muttered to myself taking my suitcase and flipping open the roller blades from underneath "but you, are a sensible, stable, girl, of nineteen, who does not panic, you look for solutions, you are not crazy, that lady just left you stranded in a strange road with no food, cell phone signal or visible sign of life near you, now calm down" I talked to myself "calm down and think, if you start walking and find people, maybe they can lend you a phone, and dad will pick you up, no need to lose the head" I repeated "everything is going to be okay"

So I followed the note's advice and started walking.

_And walking_

And walking

Looking at my watch each time the trees around the empty road started to change, turns out, it was actually morning, yes, somehow, the time had flipped too, like my sanity, and I'd been walking in my ballerina flats since one am, again I tried not to be bitter, "_everything is going to be okay_" I kept muttering.

Until finally when the sky started getting lighter, and my feet started feeling like charred coal, I saw it, a sign of life, _hallelujah._

From afar I could almost see a sign that was going to tell me where I was, it looked a town sign, or so I prayed, because with the state of my feet and my stomach I didn't think I could hold up another couple of miles.

And then I neared it,

And read what it said,

And realized I might possibly be crazy, or delusional from hunger and thirst

Or both.

Because that pretty sign had two big words written on it _"welcome to Storybrooke"_

That's when another stream of "oh hell's" broke through my mouth

So okay, let's pretend for a second that I REALLY was delusional, that the lack of food and drink coupled with non-stop walking for six hours had made me imagine things, that was practical right?, it was at least, what I tried to convince myself of, gosh I was so tired, and hungry, and needed to pee, it was actually pretty unsurprising the fact I was starting to hallucinate.

_But lord, couldn't I have been hallucinating with dr house?, or the people from grey's anatomy?, was my brain really that messed up it conjured the actual Storybrooke sign to tell me I'd lost it?.  
_  
Passing the sign, I realized I might get a signal if I was in fact near a town (_that was definitely NOT Storybrooke Maine)_ so I walked a few steps further, and lo and behold, my blackberry beeped to life.

But not one of my contacts answered, not even mama, who always had her cell on, gosh not even my house, so I being sensible, and smart, dialed the sheriff station (because every sheriff station had a secret universal number one could call, when 911 failed to do the job)

"hello Sheriff here" answered a female voice, that sounded suspiciously like Jennifer Morrison, _but that was just in my head, just in my head_ "hello?, is this a prank call?"

"no, no so sorry, I zoned out so sorry" I apologized realizing I'd kept her waiting "listen I think I'm stranded and don't really know where I am, I know it's a bother but 911 won't answer and I've been walking up the road all night, is there any chance you can get a taxi to pick me up?" "Or an ambulance" I muttered, but Mrs. Sheriff clearly heard me.

"You mean you, whoever you are, don't know where you are?" I heard some shuffling and muttering "sorry there, now I'm going to need your contact information, because we don't have taxi services here, if you tell me where you are I'll pick you up, are you in the woods by any chance?" she sounded so far away now, I had to strain my ears to hear her

"Well, no, actually, I'm near the town border, there's this big sign that's supposed to say the name of your town but, I'm so tired I probably got the wrong name"

"Contact information" the woman said with a hint of impatience "or else I'll think it's a prank call"

I groaned in frustration "listen lady this isn't a prank, I'm tired, hungry, need to pee and my feet are so bruised and red I think there might be need of amputation so why in the merciful heavens would I prank you?" I snapped

"hey, hey calm down okay, I get it" the woman backpedaled "so you said the town's sign huh I'll go pick you up, still need that name tough"

" Celeste, Celeste Morgan, I'm nineteen, average height brown hair olive skin type of blood A-positive in case you find me dead gosh, I'll show you my wallet if you want but please, hurry up, I don't want to pee in the bushes" I pleaded

"Roger to that I'm on my way just hang on okay?" then the line went dead, and I slumped to the floor in defeat, the exhaustion taking its toll on me taking off my worn out shoes and surveying my ugly red feet I tried not to move too much lord knows what sheriff –not-Jennifer-Morrison would think when she got there.

Five minutes later I began fidgeting with my phone, ready to call her again when I heard a car.

Delighted I jumped from my place, wincing when my bare feet made contact with the gravel but still I making an effort to wave my hands and drag my suitcase at the same time, happy my rescuer had finally come.

But then again maybe I was more exhausted than I thought because my rescuer was wearing an all too familiar red leather jacket; I'd seen in one too many OUAT posters.

And an all too familiar face, shivering, I approached the cruiser cautiously, "are you the sheriff that was picking me up?"

The woman who looked like Jennifer Morrison, but was definitely not her because that would mean I was crazy just rolled her eyes "what gave it away?, the badge or the car?" she asked sarcastically, my eyes widened in horror, this clone even had Emma's perchance for sarcasm, this was so wrong.

"Hey are you okay? Seriously that was a joke, you look bad, come on" she motioned to the Sheriff car still, I didn't move.

_This was crazy._

This was impossible.

This was insane.

This meant I was probably going to be institutionalized

"we talked on the phone remember?" Then the not-Jennifer-Morrison looked at me and stuck her hand out "I'm Emma"

And only one thought kept replaying itself in my _head oh lord, this is bad._

**AN: this was written in my blackberry so if it's litered with mistakes blame them on my lack of personal laptop, here we go, this is the adventure my OC wanted, now make questions favorite and comment I'll be happy to hear from you**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Okay so I revised the previous chapter and gave it a little makeover those who have read it go back and read it over, now people you might have noticed that I'm pretty much enamored with the smartphone I got for Christmas because Celeste can't seem to shut up about it, now, if you see any errors in this chapter, I can't say I didn't try, but the reasons it's not 100percent perfect is because 1) English is my second language, 2) I wrote this entirely on my blackberry and 3) my parents don't let me use the laptop at home which is very unfair, so that's my excuse. Enjoy and comment **_

_Chapter 2: Storybrooke, really? Are you freaking kidding me?_

_This was it, I'd officially lost it, my fifth grade teacher had once warned me that too much reading would one day fry my brain, maybe she was right._

Yep because there was no way, no absolute way that this was happening, I was hallucinating, there had to be a logical, mathematical, easy to pin the tail on solution. Maybe I'd hit my head, or died…

"Hey are you sure you're okay?" Emma asked from the driver seat, after all I'd been a hyperventilated mess since getting into her car, at the moment I wasn't even looking at her I was just rocking back and forth with my head between my legs muttering "this isn't happening" under my breath like a crazy person

"of course I'm okay, I mean it's not like I got stranded far from home last night with no money, food or water because the universe thought it would be fun to mess with me, it's not like I had to walk who knows how many miles for six hours, only to realize my secret fantasy of meeting my favorite fictional character is coming true" I replied in a hysterical tone without lifting my head

" in a town that's called Storybrooke of all things, it would be cool really if it weren't for the fact said town is not even supposed to exist because it's filled with people stuck in time who probably haven't heard of the words free will in decades" I kept going the hysteria in my voice making Emma visibly tense

" it doesn't help that I've never been away from home in my life, my cellphone signal is miserable at best, my shoes are broken, I'm on the verge of an emotional breakdown, my hair is probably a mess, I'm hungry, want to pee and you probably already think I'm crazy" I took a deep breath and lifted my head "but yeah I'm sooo okay"

"You done yet?" Emma asked lifting an eyebrow and managing to keep herself in the road, when I nodded she sighed "look kid"

"Celeste!" I hissed

"fine Celeste," she huffed "I didn't understand half of the things you said, well at least not the part about Storybrooke not existing and me being fictional" Emma tried making an effort to sound understanding "but what I did understand is that you need help, right now you are tired, hungry and probably very scared but that's okay" I couldn't help it, I had to stare in shock she sounded the same way as she did in once upon a time, she even drove the same way, she wore the same clothes, I was torn between squealing like a Jonas Brother fan girl and jumping out of the car horrified "because I'm not going to leave you alone to fend for yourself, we are going into town, going to talk to a couple of people and then see if we can get you settled" she smiled and gave me a small nudge in the shoulder "that make you feel better?"

I sniffed a little and nodded "you would really do that?" she nodded and I brightened up a bit "Thank you Emma"

"don't worry about it, apparently helping people out is kinda my job around here"

That brought a smile to my face "I bet you have many fans" I said with a chuckle because she was talking to me! Emma Swan! Was talking to me, my all-time girl hero who kicked bad guys and dragons backside all while looking cool in a leather jacket was joking with me, gosh this was a fan girl dream

but having my first half conversation with Emma didn't prepare me for when she drove into town, I could feel my pupils widen, again my insides churned and I felt like I would vomit.

This was _Storybrooke_, I'll give you that, but it was evidently the real thing, and by that, I mean there were no cameras, no running cast clutching Styrofoam cups of coffee, no makeup crew or green screen technicians, plus, nothing in all the houses and buildings we passed had the ABC logo on it.

"I'm taking you to Granny's first, it's a Diner just down the street, and you look as if you could use something to eat" Emma continued, pretty much oblivious to the fact I was back to having a panic attack and probably going to faint of joy (or emotional shock) in a few seconds, my thoughts alternating between this awesome, and this is hell.

"And a bathroom" I muttered after her feeling my bowels call out in protest.

On second thought did she just say Granny's?, closing my eyes I concentrated on my breathing, Celeste, please wake up now, if this ends up being real, then this really means you are sulking in front of your favorite TV character/savior extraordinaire.

Emma chuckled "and a bathroom of course" then she stopped at a red light, and turned to me "if you don't mind me asking, how's it that you ended up stranded again?"

"It's a long story" I replied looking around, lord _was that Mr. Gold's pawn shop_? Somebody please _stop me from going into full cardiac arrest_ "and I'll tell you, I promise, but, listen right now I'm having a freak out, so please, please, would you do me a favor?" I began hyperventilating, she's parking in front of Granny's, oh lord, I needed to wake up.

But the thing is, I had my fair share of lucid dreaming experiences, I knew how to provoke one, get out of one, I'd done part of my senior high school project on dreams, so this meant I knew that when one realizes that one is dreaming inside a dream, because whatever the popular belief is, the pinch yourself in a dream thing is wrong, when we dream we can feel pain too, I learned that from watching Matrix and reading books on lucid dreaming, the brain makes us feel pain, so I knew pinching myself was out, besides, I was in pain already, my feet and back hurt like hell, but there was one fool proof way to prove if I was dreaming or not. "Depends of what you want me to do" Emma asked warily.

"Just...just...pass me my cellphone" I pleaded; Emma gave me a quizzical eyebrow but complied taking the pink gliterified blackberry from the dashboard where I'd dropped it before

"I can prove I'm dreaming, this has to be a hallucination, you are not real" I began muttering "you can't look into a mirror in a dream, that's the trick, the image is always distorted" the screen of my cellphone was better than a mirror tough, slick and polished it was the best reflective surface I could get my hands on for the time being so it would have to do

Emma snorted "you really are having a freak out" I was still hyperventilating, muttering "this isn't real" in the back seat of her police car, so I didn't hear the rest of what she said, with a sigh, Emma extended the phone to me "here, go ahead" she said, with the voice I had heard her use with Henry many times in the show, oh gosh, Emma Swan was feeling pity for me, I wanted to cry

"man I look like crap" was the first thing I said surveying my face in the small mirror surfaced my once braided brown hair, looked nothing close to a braid now, my eyes had circles under them, my nose was splotchy and my lips where so cracked I suppressed a shudder, "if that's what my face looks like I don't even want to see the rest, do I look that awful?" then realizing my reflection was every bit as real as the paleness of my cheeks, I began to laugh, really laugh, very hard and manically

"Now what" Emma muttered sounding on edge, I knew it, I knew she was annoyed, but I really couldn't stop laughing, I really was in Storybrooke, this was a fan girl dream, I was really driving in Emma Swan police car.

"Emma, Hello? Girl having a mental breakdown here" I couldn't help saying between laughs "just give me a minute, I need to process" Emma began tapping her fingers in the dashboard, "at first I thought I'd gone loony then I thought this was a dream but gosh, I just realized it" And for the first time in this crazy journey I said the words I hadn't wanted to admit before "this is all really freaking happening" and I laughed some more and shook my head and laughed again, wondering what the heck was I supposed to do? Finally, about five minutes later, I stopped laughing, "Now I'm done, let's go inside" I squealed in a voice so shrill it would give one direction fans a run for their money.

"Do you have multiple personality disorder?" Emma asked huh? I stopped my bouncing and sobered up

"I'm sorry" I offered then broke into a happy grin "by the way would you give me your autograph? Please, I mean there's so many people who are so not going to believe I met you"

Emma again furrowed her brow "oookay I'm gonna chose to ignore what you just said and pretend it never happened" she said watching me with the you-are-obviously-crazy look she gave Henry in the show's pilot.

"Ups sorry"

"And stop looking at me like that, you are freaking me out" was she referring to my crazy fan girl look? Welcome to my world Emma, I wanted to retort, but lucky my stomach did it for me and she laughed "come on, maybe all this weirdness if because you need to eat"

Watching Emma Swan enter Granny's with me trailing behind her couldn't have been a funnier experience, everybody seemed to stop what they were doing and stare at her, I thought Emma was awesome, who wouldn't stare at her, the problem was, that when we took a seat in the one of the closest tables, they still didn't stop, then I realized, it wasn't at her that people where staring at…it was at me.

Well, I WAS still barefoot and looked a little like I'd just tumbled down a staircase but _Darn I forgot Storybrooke citizens where huge gossips,_ I gave Emma a bewildered look that clearly spelled WTF but before she answered the waitress appeared beside us

"sorry about that, we don't get many newcomers here" Ruby/Red/Megan Ohry said coming up to us wearing a very skimpy waitress outfit that didn't seem to leave anything to the imagination, she smiled at me and asked me what I wanted to eat (again it took all my mental concentration not to squeal and scream because this was too good to be true, RED)

"Right now, I feel like I could eat a horse, but I'll settle for a very big plate of whatever breakfast special you have" I told her returning the smile, when she turned to Emma, who'd eaten at the station she began her quiz

"So Emma who's your new friend?" Ruby asked with curiosity, Emma sighed obviously used to Ruby's inquisitive comments and not one bit bothered

"This is Celeste, she got stranded in the highway and apparently has been walking directionless all night" Emma supplied "I picked her up from the town's border"

"Oh, well that sure sounds like bad luck, are you all right?" she asked and I gave a shy nod

"Other than being very tired and looking like a train wreck I'm probably fine" I replied jokingly and Ruby laughed

"I'm Ruby"

"I know" I grinned almost making a happy dance, but looking at her face I realized it probably was the wrong thing to say "I mean, it's what Emma called you" I felt Emma sigh in relief "it's really nice to meet you"

"Likewise" she grinned "we don't get new people here in Storybrooke so any addition to this place is always good"

"Then good to know I'm appreciated" I laughed and Emma shook her head, absentmindedly I wondered if Ruby didn't get cold in her designated hooker looking outfit.

well, the good news was that if Red was still dressing in open defiance to the weather and the world's sense of decency, it probably meant I'd ended up in pre-broken-curse Storybrooke, the question was: in what episode?

"So how'd you end up here, not to be tactless but, Storybrooke isn't exactly a tourist attraction, where where you heading when you got stranded?"

"Ruby aren't you supposed to be getting Celeste's order to the cook?" Emma pointed out, Ruby made a face

"One breakfast special right away" she sang then she turned to me "you and I are not finished yet"

I laughed "that was so Ruby" taking out my blackberry I realized I had a new email, subject: IMPORTANT, Sender: Angelica Haven, my breath hitched in my throat, discreetly I put the cellphone away "I'm going to the bathroom now" I told Emma who nodded.

Finally inside an empty bathroom stall (after I finished my business with the toilet) I opened the text, sure enough, this mail, was really IMPORTANT

_Hi Celeste,_

_I hope you are having fun in Storybrooke, but there are a few things I forgot to mention in my note (no kidding Angelica, you just forgot to tell me about everything), first of all, you are not completely abandoned, in your suitcase I left you enough money to eat and rent a room, it will last you about a week, second, it's not obligatory but the fewer people who know about your true origins the better, as I said it's not obligatory but it will save you some trouble if you just said you got stranded in the road on your way to Boston, if there's any need for verification then I'll vouch for you, third, I understand there's lots of fun in things there to keep you busy, dragons, evil witches, secret vaults in mausoleums and who knows what else, you can have all the adventure you want, but know that if you get killed or die in Storybrooke, then it's the same for your universe._

_Don't think too much about this child, just live my gift with freedom._

_Love Angelica Haven_

_**Ps: if I where you I would consider finding a job before the end of the week **_

Steering myself I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming, this didn't answer any of my questions, if anything it only created more so deciding my curiosity was not going to wait I typed up a response immediately

_From: Celeste Morgan _

_Subject: Storybrooke are you freaking kidding me?_

_Dear Angelica_

_Are you insane, not that I'm not thrilled at meeting Emma and eating at Granny's but I have a life at home, a happy one that is, you can't just drop me off in an empty road and be done with it, by the way who are you? How in the word did you manage to give me a ticket to another dimension? I mean there's probably millions of once fan girls out there more deserving than me, why me? When does this trip end? Because it ends right? How's my mother? Did I just go missing? Why doesn't my mom answer the phone?_

_Love _

_An incredibly confused Celeste_

Once the mail was sent I felt a little better, the show must go on right?, at Least now I knew that I wasn't going to have problems with sleeping in a homeless shelter, or worse, have to ask Emma for somewhere to crash, I might be thrilled to meet her and Ruby but adding Mary Margaret to the mix was probably overtaxing the capacity of my nervous system

When I got back, Ruby had already delivered my food and Emma was talking to her while she waited for me, unsurprisingly sipping hot cocoa with her one true love.

And by that I mean Henry, (_not Jefferson or August or Hook or who's the other guy again? Oh right "Neal" almost left you out of the list buddy_)

"Hi I'm back, thanks for waiting Emma" I said a little too enthusiastically, if she thought my grin was as psychotic as I thought it was, she didn't mention it, lucky the people in the Diner had stopped staring (or at least where doing it more conspicuously)

"this is the person I was telling you about Henry" I got to admit Henry was cuter in person, if that was even possible, the most adorable ten year-old I'd met so far, he was even wearing a suit jacket, looking like a mini ceo of his own word, that cinched, this kid was the grandson of prince charming, no DNA test required

"Oh hello" Henry looked at me with a quizzical eyebrow "you don't belong here" he said surprised in his tiny serious voice, my smile took a mischievous angle the kid was perceptive

"Henry!" Emma scolded turning away from Ruby for a second

"no leave him," I told her, still staring at Henry wondering if he would be a little more willing than his mother to give me an autograph " you are right Henry, I got stranded on the road on my way to Boston, and I've been walking down the road all night, I suppose that's probably a clue that I don't belong here"

"You mean you walked into the border? just like that?" his voice was so cute really it's a wonder Emma never told him no, who could resist that level of cuteness and still be mad at him?

"Yup" I showed him my phone "I got cell reception as soon as I crossed it" Henry gasped at my screen

"Celeste!" his eyes where so wide it would have been funny but seeing his reaction to my phone I realized he'd been shocked into muteness

"What?, what's wrong?" I asked him wondering if maybe I needed to shake him or something then I remembered I had the poster of snow and prince charming as a screen saver (you know the one that was on the cover of Entertainment Weekly when season two came out) "it's not what you think I swear" I whispered panicked

"you know about the curse" Henry said smiling like I'd just told him Christmas had come in early "that's why you could pass the border" I blanched

lucky Emma was still engrossed in her talk with Ruby and not hearing our small conversation or else, this was one ticket to Dr Hopper's office, and trust me, I didn't want to join Belle anytime soon in Regina's secret mental ward.

Freak !Regina!

"Hush it nobody can know" I hissed "especially not Regina" oh lord why hadn't I thought of her? (Right I was in the middle of a mental breakdown) Season one Regina was the devil advocate, if she was capable of disappearing Sydney Glass and arranging for Kathryn to be kidnapped/pseudo-murdered , when they were both on her side, then I didn't want to know what could she do to me, she tried to poison Emma with a harmless turnover for Magic's sake

"Henry swear you won't say anything about the picture, not even to Emma," I hissed panicked, Emma was coming back "swear it now"

"Fine" Henry agreed under his breath "but you have to show me that picture again" he reconsidered "and tell me everything you know about the curse"

"Deal, I'll explain everything but you can't mention anything about my phone to Emma"

I gulped "or lord forbid… Regina"

"Promise?"

"Yes kid promise" I said raising my pinky finger, gosh what kind of idiot lees herself be manipulated by a ten year-old, (well, Emma for instance but she was his mother)

"oh hi Emma" Henry said with his I'm-obviously-the-grandson-of-Charming grin once she returned "I think I like Celeste now"

"What you didn't like me before?"

"you're a stranger in Storybrooke Henry doesn't like it when I'm proven right" Emma shrugged "nothing personal"

"What where you talking about with Ruby?" I wondered trying to take the attention away from me

"Just talking about what to do with this whole strange barefoot girl in Storybrooke thing" my eyes fell realizing she'd already told Ruby everything "if it's any help she said you're always welcome to check in at the inn"

"Really? I mean hmmm good" I chirped digging into my breakfast more enthusiastically "guess that's good news as any"

"So you're staying" Henry chimed "cool now you can help with operation cobra too"

"Henry!" both Emma and I hissed at the same time

"I know, I know drink your cocoa and don't talk about the curse"

"Sorry about him, Henry is a little..." Emma trailed off probably not sure what words to use regarding her son's "peculiar" obsession

"Imaginative?" I supplied smiling "don't worry about it, I mean at his age children are entitled to their own imaginations, right Henry?" I said ruffling his hair Henry shrugged and Emma gave me a smile "besides this operation cobra thing sounds fun, do I get a code name?" sometimes it was so easy to get along with children when you had six younger brothers and sisters back at home

"Don't encourage him Celeste" Emma groaned but the damage was already done, little Henry was already chatting my ear away with possible code names "your name could be brownie because of your hair or I know what about fox girl or Lesty"

"aww can't I be agent Mc hottie?" I pouted "that way you can be agent superboy" I pointed out making Emma laugh

"You two cut it off" she said giving us a look "and by the way aren't you supposed to be in school?" she asked her son sternly Henry looked away sheepishly "kid I don't need Regina on my case any more times than necessary"

"But I wanted to see you" Henry whined

"And I wanted to see you too but come on when Regina finds out I'm making you cut class you know what will happen" Emma got up "come on I'll drive you there"

"But what about Celeste?"

"She's coming too, I'll drop her off at the inn on our way back, now go up, up" she said already halfway to the door "you guys coming or what?"

But first I had to do something I'd been dying to do since meeting Henry (and Emma but she would have freaked out) "Henry wait" I said whipping out my cellphone and kneeling next to him "smile to the camera" grinning I snapped a picture of the two of us fast and saved it in my personal files

"What was that for?" a little perplexed Henry ran after Emma with me following behind

"I'll explain later" I replied already making about one thousand copies of that picture.

Secretly I was in the middle of my own internal happy dance, my inner ouat fan girl system, pretty much dying to do it again

_"I am so going to tweet this"_ I squealed to myselftriumphantly looking at my recently acquired digital treasure

_**AN: Sorry couldn't resist the twitter remark (because it's exactly what I might do if I met Jared Gilmore), (by the way I did write all this in my blackberry amazing right?) so comment and tell me how'd it go.**_

_**Ps: I'm not sure in what episode to place her, but it has to be either midseason or nearing the finale, because I really don't want to stretch the fic seeing I usually work on borrowed computers, so make suggestions please, give me a episode Celeste can go ahead and play fangirl-tourist on**_

Next stop for Celeste: finding a job, getting her act together, meeting the Evil crew (mr Gold, Regina) and the Charming crew (Mary and David) also maybe spilling the beans to Henry (because the kid is cute) I'm still undecided so I'm practically begging you here GIVE ME SUGGESTIONS


End file.
